Various navigation systems provide users with turn-by-turn directions. These systems include handheld GPS devices or mobile phones, vehicle-mounted devices, or Internet-based computers with access to websites such as Google Maps. Users input one or more locations and receive a route and turn-by-turn directions based on the inputted locations. The user may follow the turn-by-turn directions to reach the one or more locations.
These navigation systems rely on precise geographic information to determine the location of an inputted location. Thus, where a user inputs an imprecise origination or destination location, some systems may artificially add precision by selecting a specific location associated with the imprecise location, such as a central location in a city or an intersection. For example, a user of Google Maps requesting directions from “San Francisco” to “Palo Alto” is given directions from Van Ness and Market streets in San Francisco, Calif. to Middlefield and Embarcadero streets in Palo Alto, Calif. However, such artificial selections may be inappropriate in many situations.